


What Shadows Hide

by TrippinOverMyFandoms



Series: Swords And Arrows [6]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: I ran out of tag ideas, M/M, Nyctophobia, Phobias, Sladiver Week, Sort Of, kasnia, season 6 canon compliant, sladiver week day 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 12:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20760596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrippinOverMyFandoms/pseuds/TrippinOverMyFandoms
Summary: sladiver week day 2 - phobiasOliver was a vigilante who had lived through hell and was hardly scared of anything. Though, there was a reason he slept with a nightlight until he was sixteen.





	What Shadows Hide

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank the wonderful human who betaed (is that how you spell it?) this fic for me!  
swingrlm this fic would have been quite the mess without all your help! Thank you so so much!

Oliver had gone to sleep while the sun was still up and was still streaming through the window. He was jet lagged after the flight to Kasnia and decided to take a nap at the expense of Slade calling him a princess. He distinctly remembered the man leaving the hotel room shortly after that. He had rolled over in the bed to shield his eyes from the sunlight just as the door closed. When that didn't work, he got up and closed the deep red curtains that let all that light in. That was better. Light still came in from the main room but he still wanted to be able to see when he woke up later. 

He wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up. All he was able to process was that he was hot and it was pitch black. As soon as Oliver's eyes opened and he couldn't see, his heart started pounding. He was hot from the blankets and the long sleeved shirt he wore from the airport but a shiver ran down his spine. To make it all worse there wasn't a sound to be heard. 

It suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. He tried to ground himself, tried to remember what his mother had told him as a child to do when he woke in the middle of the night and the bulb in his nightlight had gone out in his room. Find something to feel, to hear, to smell. 

Oliver couldn't breathe and the dust in the room made what air he could get in that much worse. He tried breathing in through his mouth but ended up choking, making him cough, which made it worse. He tried to find something, anything to hear; pipes, footsteps, traffic, nothing. It made his ears ring with the lack of sound and they felt as if they were stuffed with cotton. He gripped the blankets around him hoping that would do something but it didn't work. He hadn't freaked out like this in years and he didn't know how to stop it.

When he gave up his nightlight after a girl he slept with made fun of him, he made sure to leave a curtain open instead. There was always enough light outside to at least illuminate the large room. On the island it was dark but never like this. There was always noise from the forest and embers from their fire that left a soft glow. Hong Kong always had a soft murmur to it and even there he left the window open. Russia was no different. He had habits and ways of preventing his fear or phobia, as Felicity had called it when he had confessed to her these things and expressed an extreme dislike of the idea of a completely dark room. 

Not only was it a childhood fear but combined with his instincts as a vigilante it became crippling. 

He tried to sit up, maybe get more than a little air in his lungs, to breathe deeper, but he overdid it when he tried to roll from his side and onto his back. He was too close to the edge and he fell with a thud. The blankets came with him, leaving him tangled. He gasped and fought them. It proved to be a challenge with his shaking and restricted limbs. He quickly grew tired and had to still just so he could catch his breath.

He was trapped and it was dark and quiet. He was sweating and uncomfortable. He was scared. He couldn't see or hear if there was a threat and if there was, he would be doomed. There could be something, anything in the hotel room and he wouldn't know it. Who knows what was already lurking in the dark ready to take him.

It all over took him and that fear washed over him in waves as his brain began to stop thinking rationally and soon stopped at all, unable to focus on anything other than being constricted and the terrifying darkness around him. 

Oliver began to cry. 

It started quietly at first, he hadn't even noticed other than the wetness on his cheeks. Then it grew till he was sobbing and fighting the blankets again. He had to get out. He couldn't stay like this. He was scared. Sobs wracked his body and caused him to hiccup and cough. His head was free finally, he knew that much when he felt the cool air but everything else was still stuck. 

There was a noise somewhere but he couldn't make it out. He tried to call for help but it wasn't words, just a distressed sound and more tears. 

Then there was light and the brightness kept him from seeing, not that he could because he was still so focused on thrashing and kicking his way out of the blankets he was trapped in. 

He kept fighting and crying out until he caught his breath and realized that he was free. For the most part anyways. He was restricted but he realized he was being held down by a pair of arms. He stilled and realized that he could see. A soft white glow illuminated the room from overhead and in front of him he could see the mess of blankets on the other side of the room. He brought his breathing to a steady in and out rhythm and could now all of a sudden hear the soft shushing in his ear. 

Oliver sat like that for a moment, letting his heart slow to a normal beat and took in his surroundings. He was able to ground himself now. The musty scent of the hotel room was overpowered by a cologne that was familiar, but he couldn't quite place it yet. The shushing had stopped but the breathing and beating heart was still comforting. He no longer felt trapped but rather protected by the arms around his chest, held securely in place. He let out a shaky breath and brought one of his hands to rest on the hand closest to his heart. 

"You okay, kid?" Asked the person holding him. He knew the voice as Slade's and everything clicked. Somehow, just by knowing it was Slade for sure made him feel even more secure. "Slade," he said his name out loud to comfort himself and to allow himself to finally relax. He went limp, resting his head against the other's shoulder. 

"I came back and thought something had happened to you when I heard you shouting. Scared me a little." Oliver closed his eyes and breathed Slade in. He must have come back from whatever it was he left for earlier and returned to rescue him. Now they were like this on the floor against the opposite bed. 

"Scared of the dark." Oliver croaks, voice hoarse from earlier. If he's not mistaken he could have sworn Slade pulled him closer just before he started to sway a little. 

He's also pretty sure Slade chuckled when he said that. "Oh is that all?" Yeah Slade was definitely making fun of him. Oliver frowns and lightly smacks his arm which is soon followed by, "Sorry. Like I said, thought someone had hurt you. I came in here ready for a fight. I found you all tangled up and didn't know what to make of it. I just about had to sweep the place before I could help." 

Oliver tries to mumble a reply but he's exhausted from the fright. He felt tired again so he left his eyes closed and let Slade hold him. For the moment, the reason they were in Kasnia didn't matter. Their previous bad blood didn't matter. Nothing mattered except this moment. He was safe, and with Slade being his protector he knew he wouldn't have to worry.


End file.
